General Articles and Essays

Marriage Is Bigger Than We Are...

by Bill Randles

And said, "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more
twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19:5-6)

There is always a sense of God at the weddings I
have been a part of. After all, we know and acknowledge that God is the one who
ordained marriage, He is the one who defines and upholds it, for marriage is
Holy. “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of
them…”.

By the use of the word Holy, I don’t merely refer to the fact that marriage is
pure, or sinless, or even that it is religious. I am using the word “Holy” in
its theological sense; marriage is “other”, it is “separate” in fact it is above
us! Marriage is bigger than we are.

If marriage was merely a cultural development, or a social construct, I wouldn’t
say that it was holy. Perhaps I would say that it useful, or the best possible
way to insure the rearing of children, or the result of centuries of the
evolution of civilization, but I wouldn’t describe it as holy!

But marriage is more than the above, much more, for it was ordained by God
himself, and established as the basic and original human relationship. Before
there was a brotherhood, or father or mother, or church, son ,daughter, society
or clan, there was in the beginning man and wife.

Marriage occurred before the fall of man, and before sin and death. The first
“not good” uttered by God concerned the problem of man being alone, “It is not
good that man should be alone…”.

God has ordained marriage to be the answer to the aloneness of the first man.
Man is made in the Image of God, yet he needs a lifelong companion, a
compliment, a “help meet” (suited) for him.

How does God take a “not good” and turn it into a “good”? It looks a lot like
death and resurrection.

He first put the man into a deep sleep, and removed his side, (it literally says
“side”, not “rib”), which God used to form the woman. God then awakened the man,
who now had an opening in his side, and presented the woman to him for the first
wedding.

The (as of yet) un-fallen man, Adam, was moved to prophesy at the sight of the
lovely creature, woman, formed out of His side, made also in the Image of God,
who was created to compliment him in all of life,

“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.”(Genesis 2:24-25)

Adam could see something future that his own marriage foreshadowed. According to
Paul, the expression “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” has an ultimate
application, for there has come a final Bridegroom, whose side was also opened,
and who purchased his bride by his own blood! Adam saw this on that day, and
rejoiced in it.

“For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning
Christ and the church.“(Ephesians 5:30-32)

There we see much of the mystery that is marriage, every wedding points to the
ultimate marriage, that of the Lamb of God to be united forever to the church
which he has purchased by his blood. Each wedding is a sort of prophecy, and the
anticipation is spiritual.

The joy and hope as Ashley and Myles stood before the holy altar of God to make
their solemn vows to love ,honor and cherish one another, were mingled with the
sense of awe, gravity and reverent fear of God who ordained and upholds
marriage.

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be
undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)

Yesterday, we knew we were standing in the presence of something greater than we,
that there was a continuity in what we were doing, that goes all the way back to
the beginning . When we called upon the author of marriage, we knew He was there
with us.

Furthermore we were somewhat aware that what we were doing is in itself a dim
prophecy of the beautiful future, for the Bible begins with a wedding and ends
with a wedding, the Marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed are all they who are
going to be part of this!

Redeeming the Realities of MarriageIf you are going to have a marriage that lives in unity, understanding, and
love, you must have a little-moment approach to your marriage. This is the
nature of the life God has designed for us.

Be Happy With What You HaveIt is easy to think "If I could just get a new car, a bigger house, a better
job, or more money, then I'll be happy." We tend to view happiness as a
commodity attainable by wealth. However, as the old saying goes, "money cannot
buy happiness."